3 hurt in accident on I-71 near Bellville

BELLVILLE – Three people were taken to OhioHealth MedCentral Mansfield Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries Saturday afternoon after the driver of a KIA sport utility vehicle headed south on Interstate 71 lost control near the 166 mile marker in southern Richland County.

The Kia spun around 180 degrees, colliding on its front end with a commercial tractor-trailer.

Nakitia M. Lewis, the driver of the Kia, will be cited for failure to control her vehicle, according to the Mansfield post of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

A state trooper said Lewis was driving in the southbound center lane when she lost control, slid over to the far left lane, over-corrected and went into far right lane, spinning and was struck by the semi.

Lewis and two unidentified passengers in the Kia were taken to the hospital. The driver of the semi, Ernst Paul of New Jersey, was not injured.

Both vehicles came to rest across the far right and center lanes. Those two lanes were shut down until the road could be cleared.